Ramsey runs the show yet again

Arsenal, on their first away trip in the Premier League this season, comfortably beat a Fulham side bereft of midfield strength by three goals to one with Arsene Wenger’s side creating even more chances than the score-line suggests. Aaron Ramsey continued his impressive start to the season with yet another standout, Man of the Match performance which has left many of his doubters questioning their stance on the Welsh midfielder.

Aaron Ramsey put in another impressive display which should only cement his place in the side upon Arteta’s return.

Ramsey partnered Tomas Rosicky in the midfield two of Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1 formation at the start of today’s match with Jack Wilshere given a rest after playing two full matches in the space of a week and it was a decision that would prove to be the difference between the two sides over the course of the ninety minutes.

Fulham went with a very straightforward 4-4-2 system with Pajtim Kasami being the stationed partner to Dimitar Berbatov in Fulham’s front two however Kasami would drop off just behind the Bulgarian and roam the space across the width of the pitch in what then became a 4-4-1-1 formation. This however provided very little protection for the slight in build midfield duo of Steve Sidwell and Scott Parker which showed.

Fulham despite being the home side showed very little desire to press Arsenal when the Gunners had possession in their own half and to a degree even in the first ten to fifteen yards of Fulham’s half. Sidwell and Parker were content to just sit in their positions and invite the midfield two of Rosicky and Ramsey onto them.

Arsenal being very methodical in their approach utilised Santi Cazorla’s ability perfectly in this situation and just passed the ball between the three of Rosicky, Ramsey and Cazorla. The ball would be moved between the trio with Rosicky covering Cazorla on the left hand side when the Spaniard dropped deep into Arsenal’s half to receive a pass and vice versa. Throughout the first half this worked splendidly albeit with a little assistance from Fulham’s unwillingness to press when not in possession.

Ramsey with plenty of time to think on the ball could receive a pass from Rosicky and then break into the space in between Sidwell and Parker with the Fulham midfield still unwilling to close down, Ramsey then had time to pick a pass to either Lukas Podolski in the middle of the pitch or Theo Walcott on the right hand side, however Walcott was having significantly less success than in midweek now he was up against a competent, experienced Full-Back in John Arne Riise.

Now you would expect with Parker and Sidwell sitting so deep it would benefit Fulham’s defensive line with the addition of two bodies to help defend against Arsenal attacks, however it was very much a case of the game passing the two midfielders by. By the time they addressed the danger created by an Aaron Ramsey forward run, the ball had already been moved on into a different area and Parker or Sidwell were taken completely out of the game.

This is the situation created by the unwillingness to press from Fulham’s midfield pairing. Sidwell and Parker just sat in an area of space inviting Ramsey to maraud forward as well as giving the Arsenal midfielders so much time on the ball. When Ramsey did run at them they got pushed further and further back and on the odd occasion they did make an attempt to close Ramsey down he would simply move the ball on to Walcott which would leave Sidwell and Parker out of the game. This is where Martin Jol went wrong for me, giving Arsenal time on the ball is an absolutely suicidal mistake with the quality within that midfield.

This was the problem for Fulham however Arsenal were struggling to make best use of this advantage with chances not being converted and Lukas Podolski looking slightly like a rabbit in headlights at the initial prospect of playing in a more central role from the start with the German international being used to being deployed on the left side of the attacking midfield trio throughout his career with the Gunners. Still despite Arsenal’s profligacy in front of David Stockdale’s goal they were in comfortable control of the game and when the first goal inevitably came it was through a man in encouraging form. Olivier Giroud netted his third goal in three straight competitive matches with a fine, deft chip over Stockdale after picking up on a deflected Aaron Ramsey effort inside the penalty area.

For me Fulham should have approached the match differently from the start. You know you aren’t going to dominate a match against Arsenal simply due to the fact they have too good a team in terms of keeping the ball and moving it around the pitch at a good tempo. Unfortunately as once said by Arsene Wenger, “To stop Arsenal, you have to kick Arsenal” and there is an effective way of stopping Arsenal and that is putting them under pressure.

Fulham should have gone with a three in the middle of midfield who were prepared to press when not in possession and really get amongst the Arsenal midfield when Ramsey and Rosicky had the ball. Sidwell, Parker and new signing Derek Boateng put in a midfield three would have been able to really press Arsenal and force a mistake, yes it would leave the potential for a defence splitting pass to Walcott in behind but it would have stopped Ramsey dictating the tempo of the game and perhaps given Fulham more of a chance.

With the additional body in midfield there would have been a greater freedom to press Arsenal in the middle of the pitch. Sidwell and Boateng could have cut out any forward runs made by Rosicky and Ramsey as well as pressing them deeper in Arsenal’s half when they received the ball in order to force a mistake. This midfield three would have given Arsenal far less time on the ball which would have resulted in them finding it harder to break Fulham down with intricate passing. Boateng’s physical presence would have really given Fulham an edge over the slender Rosicky and Ramsey this afternoon.

Even after the opening breakthrough there was still something missing in Arsenal’s attacks, Lukas Podolski was really struggling in the middle and just began to drift onto his favoured left hand side which crowded the space occupied by Cazorla, who was then forced to drop deeper and it left Arsenal imbalanced in the final third. Olivier Giroud found himself more and more isolated with no regular service from the central areas and as such it was also very difficult for Theo Walcott to get into the game. It wasn’t until straight after the second goal, which incidentally was scored by Podolski in a central position, that the problem was addressed by a very subtle system change.

Arsenal have been known to play in a very fluid 4-2-3-1 formation over the past two seasons and with the fluidity of this formation and the individuals utilised within the system, comes an ability to ever so slightly tinker with positioning on the fly and this is exactly what Arsene Wenger did just after the second goal. Arsenal went from 4-2-3-1 to a very comfortable 4-3-3 with Lukas Podolski being repositioned on his favoured left flank and Santi Cazorla forming a three man midfield sitting just ahead of Rosicky and Ramsey in order to contribute to Arsenal’s attacks through the centre.

This is how Arsenal set up in the 4-2-3-1 system. Podolski was positioned as the central point of the attacking midfield three with Cazorla on the left, however you can see Podolski kept drifting out to the left flank. This meant Cazorla’s space became crowded and he was forced to drop back into the middle very close to Rosicky and Ramsey. The result of these two factors was Giroud becoming isolated, illustrated by the blue circle, due to the fact there was no linkman just behind him in the number ten role to bring the Frenchman into the game, and this is why Arsenal’s attacks were breaking down and not creating too many chances.

Arsenal responded to the difficulties they were having with the 4-2-3-1 by quickly changing to a 4-3-3 which utilised Cazorla as a central midfielder just slightly in front of the Rosicky/Ramsey pairing. This allowed Podolski to play on his favoured side and attack Riether at Full-Back. Cazorla being in the central role also meant Giroud was not totally isolated and the Spaniard ended up playing as a box to box midfielder for the majority of the second half, which he was able to do well courtesy of the anchoring role Aaron Ramsey was having just behind him. This also gave Rosicky the freedom to make the occasional forward run however it was a much more reserved performance in that respect for the Czech

international this afternoon.

This ‘tweak’ as it were, for me, changed the game. Arsenal were still able to dominate the midfield battle through Rosicky and Ramsey however they now had more stability in the final third with Cazorla drifting from the middle of midfield to a central attacking midfield role whenever the situated desired it. It is this sort of fluidness which has made Arsenal sides so successful in the Wenger era and Fulham had no answer to the change with David Stockdale having to pull off a number of high quality saves to keep the score at 2-0.

Many will say Cazorla was the best player on the park this afternoon with the Spaniard doing a fantastically impressive job dropping into the middle of midfield and orchestrating Arsenal’s attacks, as well as getting forward into areas where he could supply Walcott, Giroud and Podolski with a pass in behind. Make no mistake he was instrumental in Arsenal’s success but it was Ramsey’s performance which gave him the time and space to do this. The Welsh midfielder was comfortable on the ball and efficient in his distribution, never have I seen an Aaron Ramsey performance where he gave the ball away so infrequently and that is no slight on the player but merely an observation of a regular spectator of Ramsey both for Arsenal and Wales.

The Aaron Ramsey we have seen thus far this season is a very different Aaron Ramsey to previous years. This is a fit Ramsey who appears to have put his injury problems behind him and in the absence of Arteta it is an Aaron Ramsey who is able to be the main man in midfield as it were. He can really stamp his authority on matches through forward runs and clever passes, which he did against Fenerbahce to great avail midweek with his surging runs causing sizeable problems for Emre and Raul Meireles in the middle of the pitch as they were forced deeper and deeper.

The third goal came through yet more impressive Arsenal football with Cazorla finding himself in a far forward position inside Fulham’s penalty area before cutting it back to Podolski who fired home past Stockdale from the left hand side of the penalty box. It was a game plan that worked perfectly however you can’t help feel yet again, like in Turkey on Wednesday night, that Arsenal were helped somewhat by a poor display in a key area from their opponents. Tuesday’s second leg being the formality it should be is a chance for Wenger to rest key players with it not being a huge surprise should Serge Gnabry play a part.

The real test will come next weekend at the Emirates with Tottenham Hotspur the visitors in the first North London derby of the season, and with Paulinho and Etienne Capoue in tow you would think Aaron Ramsey will have to continue his stellar form if Arsenal are to have a successful third Premier League fixture.